A NEW 84,500 square feet warehouse store has opened its doors today.

The Bunnings Warehouse is on the site of the former Homebase store in Winchester Road, was officially opened this morning by double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell.

Offering customers more than 30,000 leading home improvement and garden products from a wide range of global market-leading brands, Bunnings also offers a range of other services including everything from paint mixing to key cutting, a garden centre, timber cutting and in-store D.I.Y. workshops.

Ahead of the opening, Bunnings’ team members have been busy helping with projects in the Basingstoke area, including refreshing the garden area for patients at the Swiss Cottage and painting the school hall for pupils at Lymington House.

Basingstoke complex manager, Richard Southworth, said: “All our team members have worked really hard to get the store ready for opening and have undertaken many hours of training to make sure we have the expertise to help customers with home or garden projects.”

As part of its opening weekend the store will host a range of events on December 16 and 17, including the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle, face-painting, balloon modelling and even Santa will pay the store a visit to spread some festive cheer.